International regimes have been conceptualized as intervening variables standing between basic causal factors and actors’ behaviors. According to Krasner, there are four defining components of international regimes:

• Principles are beliefs of causation, fact, and rectitude.

• Norms are standards of behavior, and they are defined in terms of rights and obligations.

• Rules are specific prescriptions or proscriptions for action.

• Decision-making procedures are prevailing practices for making and implementing collective choice